Telangana Congress Chief's "Khaki Knickers" Barb, Asaduddin Owaisi's Reply

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi took a dig at Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy, calling him a "puppet of RSS" and even accusing him of doing "dog whistle politics" targeting the minority class.

"...When you have nothing to say then you start talking about our clothes... This is called dog whistle politics, which is being done by the (Telangana) Congress President... I told you earlier that you (Revanth Reddy) have come from RSS, your connection with RSS is still there, Mohan Bhagwat is controlling you," Asaduddin Owaisi said at a public rally here.

The Telangana Congress chief on Sunday attacked Mr Owaisi, saying that he "wears a khaki knicker under his sherwani."

Mr Owaisi was apparently responding to these comments.

"Telangana PCC chief started as an RSS member wearing a chaddi and then went to ABVP, then joined Telugu Desam and now come to Congress. Someone said it right that Congress's Gandhi Bhavan is captured by Mohan Bhagwat and will run Congress however he wants," the AIMIM chief said.

Recalling the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests, Mr Owaisi went on to say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the protesters could be identified by the dress they wore. He added that the same thing was done by Mr Revanth when he talked about Mr Owaisi's sherwani.

Political heat is high in Telangana as the state will undergo assembly elections on November 30, and the counting of votes, along with those of four other poll-bound states, has been scheduled for December 3.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)